Chiropractic Identity

Florida Campus

Sports Council raises the bar

At the beginning of 2009, Heather
Bowyer, D.C., was appointed to coordinate
the fledgling Florida Campus Sports
Council. Dr. Bowyer, also an instructor
and faculty clinician, is a 2006 graduate of
Palmer’s West Campus. Her participation
with the well-established West Campus
Sports Council is what sparked her
interest in treating athletes through
sports chiropractic.

“Sports Council is a great opportunity for
students to work with athletes and to promote
chiropractic in the community,” says
Dr. Bowyer. “The experience and knowledge
gained is invaluable, and none of it
would be possible without the hard work
of a very talented and committed group of
students. The executive officers work very
hard at organizing the events, scheduling
student coverage and making sure that all
necessary supplies are available. Without
their dedication, the experience that so
many of our current students and graduates
have gained would not be possible.”

Current Sports Council members with advisers Dr. Heather Bowyer (right)
and Dr. Tom Young (left).

In 2009, the Florida Campus Sports
Council participated in two events. One
was at the Chiro Games and the other
with the United States Tennis Association
(USTA), headquartered in Daytona
Beach, which was the first external
organization to partner with the Florida
Campus Sports Council. In 2010 the
number of events grew to 20 and this
past year the Sports Council participated
in 39 events. The variety in the types
of events and sports allows the 59 student
interns currently in the program
to experience treating athletes in three
different tiers.

Tier 1 is made up of non-contact
sports like running, tennis and golf.

Tier 2 includes incidental contact
sports such as marathons, triathlons
and baseball.

Tier 3 is for intentional contact sports,
which include rugby, Chiro Games
sports, basketball and martial arts.

Currently, in addition to running events
such as Palmer’s own Palmer Paints the
Towne and the Palmer Clinic’s Healthy
Heart Run, the Florida Campus Sports
Council partners with notable sports
organizations including: the USTA, LPGA,
NCAA, the Ragnar Relay and the Daytona
Cubs. Preliminary discussions also have
been held with the Daytona International
Speedway and the NFL’s Jacksonville
Jaguars.

While the players and participants benefit
from what is often their first experience
with chiropractic in any setting, the
student interns benefit in many different
ways. “I am incredibly happy with the
progress of the Sports Council over
the past couple of years,” says exiting
President Anthony Harris. “It has been an
honor to serve our community and to
directly impact the lives of so many
people through chiropractic care. I have
received great testimonials from event
coordinators complimenting our poise on
the field, professionalism and our healing
touch. With that said, we couldn’t have
grown and impacted the community the
way we have without the support from
Palmer, our adjunct clinicians, a group of
hard-working officers, and especially from
our adviser, Dr. Heather Bowyer.”

The growth of the Sports Council has paralleled
the interest in sports chiropractic
both nationally and locally. Ryan Ronk,
tournament marketing manager for the
LPGA’s Symetra Tour, says, “Initially the
interest in offering sports chiropractic
for the players at our tournaments was
lukewarm. Now the women request
the availability of chiropractic care and
utilize it enthusiastically.”

Current Sports Council President Sean
Driscoll plans to continue developing the
variety and number of events as well as
increasing student participation. “The
Sports Council has grown tremendously
over the past few years and has given the
student body a wealth of experience in
treating athletes and being prepared to be
health care providers at athletic events,”
he says. “Although the club has seen an
increase in numbers, we’d like to get more
than one-third of the student body actively
participating in events. We’re also
striving to expand the variety of events to
include more unconventional sports, such
as wakeboarding and motocross. Our goal
is to increase the awareness of chiropractic
and its many to benefits to the community
through our shared interest in sports.”

Choose your program

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